Kamini Kumar Dutta ( bn, কামিনী কুমার দত্ত; 1878–1959) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

politician and former

Law Minister of Pakistan The Law Minister of Pakistan heads the Ministry of Law and Justice. They serves in the cabinet of the Prime Minister. List of ministers *Jogendra Nath Mandal (1947–1951) *Pirzada Abdus Sattar Abdur Rahman (1951–1953) *A.K. Brohi (1953– ...

Early life

Dutta was born on 25 June 1878 in Sreekail,

Muradnagar Upazila Muradnagar ( bn, মুরাদনগর, Muradnogor) is an upazila of the Comilla District in Chittagong Division, Bangladesh. History In ancient times, the area was a part of the geopolitical region of Samatata ruled by the Rata dynasty. In ...

Comilla District Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to t ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He studied at Chittagong Government High School. In 1898, he graduated from

Ripon College, Calcutta Surendranath College is an undergraduate college affiliated to the University of Calcutta, in Kolkata, India. It was founded in 1884 by the nationalist leader and scholar Surendranath Banerjee. The Women's section of the college was founded ...

and received a B.law degree from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

Career

In 1901, Dutta joined the Comilla District bar. He joined Calcutta High Court in 1918 as an advocate. He was involved with the Indian National Congress. He was involved with the

Non-cooperation movement The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.

and the

Swadeshi movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

. He was arrested a number of times by the imperial police for his activism. In 1937, he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council. In May 1938, he conveyed the All-India Peasants' Conference and served as the President of the Reception Committee in Comila. In 1938, he convened the All-Bengal and Assam Lawyers' Association meeting in Comila. He presided over the All-Bengal and Assam Lawyers' Association conference next year in Khulna. He served in the Comilla District Board. Following the

Noakhali riots The Noakhali riots were a series of semi-organized massacres, rapes and abductions, combined with looting and arson of Hindu properties, perpetrated by the Muslim community in the districts of Noakhali in the Chittagong Division of Bengal (n ...

, Dutta served as the president of Tippera District Relief, Rescue and Rehabilitation Committee, that was created to aid the victims of the riot. In 1954, he was elected to the East Pakistan Provincial Legislative Assembly. In 1956, he served in the

Basic Principles Committee The Basic Principles Committee (BPC) was a specialized committee set up in March 1949 by Khawaja Nazimuddin on the advice of prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan. The committee's sole purpose was to determine the basic underlying principles that would ...

which framed the first constitution of Pakistan. From August 1955 to September 1956, he served as the Law Minister of Pakistan under Prime Minister

Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Chaudhry Muhammad Ali ( Urdu, pa, ; 15 July 1905 – 2 December 1982), best known as Muhammad Ali, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fourth prime minister of Pakistan, appointed on 12 August 1955. His government tra ...

. He converted his home into a hostel for women, Mrnalini Chhatri-Nibas, named after his wife Mrinalini Datta.

Death

Dutta died on 4 January 1959. There is a Kamini Kumar Dutta Memorial Law Lecture at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

References

{{Bangladesh-politician-stub 1878 births 1959 deaths People from Comilla District University of Calcutta alumni Pakistani MNAs 1955–1958 Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954 Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan